Twilight Visions
by Sunshine Aradia
Summary: This is an original Night World story. The idea of the Night World is not mine, but the basic plot line is mine. (Hey if I typed up a real summary, it would give the whole story away.)
1. Part One

Twilight Visions: Part 1  
by Sunshine Aradia  
Disclaimer: Almost all the characters in this story are mine. There is one mentioned and two that I brought in that do not belong to me. Hunter Redfern and Dani Abforth belong to L.J. Smith. L.J. Smith also owns the last name of Harman. Raven Mandrill is only mentioned in my story, but she is in Huntress, by L.J. Smith.  
  
Author's Note: This is an original Night World story. The story takes place shortly after Huntress, and before Black Dawn.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Sarah was in her bedroom. It was exactly how she liked it.  
  
Along the wall above her bed hung three bookshelves. They were loaded with all her favorite authors. L.J. Smith and Christopher Pike. R.L. Stine and Christine Feehan. The rest of her room was perfect, too. On her dresser in the corner was her water globe collection. She'd been collecting them ever since her mother, now absent from her life, had given her eight years ago. She had a computer on a desk in the corner where she typed her schoolwork and all her stories.  
  
Sarah got up from in front of the computer and sighed. 'I can't wait until that one comes out.' She thought, thinking about Christine Feehan's new gothic novel.  
  
She got up on her bed and peered at her books. "What do I want to read?" she murmured then took Secret Vampire off the shelf, laid down on her bed, and opened it up to the first page.  
  
'It was on the first day of summer vacation that Poppy found out she was going to die.'  
  
Sarah closed the book with a snap. Why couldn't books change after the first time you read them? She knew they couldn't, but still. . . .  
  
Sarah had always been fascinated with the paranormal and the supernatural. She couldn't even recall the number of times she'd been told by one of her dozens of friends that she had E.S.P.  
  
Every time she picked up the phone she knew who it was.  
  
'Like now,' she thought to herself as the phone rang. "Hey, Angie. What's up?"  
  
Angie was her sister. Three years younger than herself, she was nothing like Sarah. Angie smoked all the time and drank alcohol once in a while.  
  
"How do you do that?" Angie demanded. "Whatever. Anyways, do you want to go out tonight? I met someone and I told his brother about you and he wants to meet you."  
  
"Angie!" Sarah exclaimed, thoroughly exasperated. "Why do you always do this to me? Why can't you just leave me alone?"  
  
"Do what? Come on, Sarah. You always stay in that apartment of ours. Dad won't care if you go out for a little while tonight."  
  
"Angie, I don't know. Call me back in ten minutes. I have to think."  
  
Sarah hung up on Angie and threw herself on her bed.  
  
'Why is she still trying to fix me up with people?' she thought to herself.  
  
Ever since Angie had been in the seventh grade, she'd been trying to select her boyfriends for her. And they were all the same kind of guys. Tall, skinny, and nerd-like. There was nothing wrong with guys like that. They just weren't for her.  
  
When Angie called her back, Sarah had a question and a compromise for her.  
  
"Angie, what is this guy like? And, I'm telling you this once and only once. If I go tonight, and I don't like this guy, you will not try to set me up with anyone else ever again."  
  
"Well, this guy is tall with dark brown hair. He's big and muscular. His name is Tom and I honestly believe that you will like him, but I promise that if you don't like him, I won't try to fix you up with anyone anymore."  
  
"Fine, I'll meet him. Where do you want me to meet you and when?" Sarah asked, sighing loudly.  
  
"Um. . . meet us at Ponderosa in three hours." Angie said, thoroughly pleased with herself.  
  
"Okay." Sarah said and hung up on her sister again. 'I think I'll decide what to wear now and get dressed later.'  
  
She searched through her whole closet and finally decided on an ocean blue dress, which matched her eyes.  
  
Two hours later, she stood in front of the mirror in her room. Her tall slender body fitted the dress perfectly. Her black hair swung freely down her back. Her eyes were outlined with eyeliner and mascara, making her ocean blue eyes stand out even more. Her suntanned face and light pink lips perfectly matched the shape of her face and eyes.  
  
She put on her heels and grabbed her purse and keys and headed out the door.  
  
@~@~@~  
  
"I think you'll like my sister." Angie rattled on and on to Tom, her boyfriend's older brother. "She's really nice when she's not giving people a hard time."  
  
"I'm sure I will." 'At least for a snack.' He thought to his brother in the back seat, who smirked.  
  
Tom and Jesse Mandrill were almost identical, except for their clothes style and age. Another thing they shared was they were both lamia.  
  
'I miss Raven.' Tom thought suddenly. Raven was his cousin who had turned into a "damned Daybreaker" when her gang's leader had learned that she was the first Wild Power.  
  
They pulled into the parking lot to Ponderosa at 7:15.  
  
"Oh, there's Sarah's car! She's already here." Angie said, pointing to a blue sports car.  
  
"Nice car," Jesse said to Tom.  
  
"Yeah," Tom said.  
  
Tom parked the car and they got out.  
  
After walking into the restaurant, they talked to one of the waitresses who told them that they could eat with their friend, but had to order and pay for their food first.  
  
They each ordered a salad bar and then went to find Sarah.  
  
The first thing Tom started looking for was a nerdy girl who could be wearing braces and glasses.  
  
"There she is," Angie said, pointing at a beautiful woman with long black hair.  
  
Sarah stood as her sister walked up. She didn't care if Angie wanted to smoke a cigarette. She wanted to sit in the non-smokers section. She wouldn't stand for it in her room or car and she would not stand for it now.  
  
"Hello, Angie," she said as Angie walked up to her with her boyfriend and his brother. "You must be Tom, but oddly enough I do not know your boyfriend's name, Angie."  
  
"I'm Jesse," Tom's brother said.  
  
Sarah would have sworn them to be twins if she hadn't known that Tom was Jesse's older brother. The looked exactly alike. They were the same height. They had the same muscular build. Everything about them was the same. Except for their clothes. Jesse was dressed in the punk style. Tom was dressed more conservatively in a pair of fitted blue jeans and a T-shirt.  
  
"It's nice to meet you, Sarah," Tom said. 'God, she's beautiful. I'm going to have some fun with her.' He thought as he put out his hand to shake Sarah's, but the minute their hands touched, their minds merged and instantly they knew each other.  
  
'Who are you? Do I know you?' Sarah thought to him and knew that he had heard her thought.  
  
'How can you speak in my head?' Tom demanded of her.  
  
"Uh, guys?" Angie asked. "What is going on? You've been standing there for about five minutes holding each other's hands. Can we sit down? I'm starving!"  
  
Jesse was staring at his brother, a frown marring his forehead. 'What happened? Are you okay? I've never seen you like that before.'  
  
'I don't know, but. . . .' Tom thought to him as he shook his head, trying to clear it of the clouds that were still in his head.  
  
They all went and got their food and ate in almost silence. Once in a while someone tried to strike up a conversation, but there was too much tension in the air.  
  
When they were finished eating, they all went out to the movies. Tom and Sarah sat stony faced, zoning into the screen, not even watching it while Angie and Jesse cuddled next to them.  
  
When Sarah had started reading L.J. Smith's Dark Visions books, she had begun training her self mentally and soon found it easy to shield her thought and feelings between herself and all others.  
  
Meanwhile, Tom looked over at Jesse and Angie. Angie had a glazed look in her half closed passion filled eyes, her head tilted back as Jesse carefully bit her neck to drink some of her blood.  
  
'Well, I suppose I should feed now.' Tom thought and reached his mind out toward Sarah. But as soon as he reached her mind, he felt as if a wall of bricks had slammed up in front of him.  
  
Sarah hadn't been thinking of anything. She was sitting trying to focus on the movie, but she kept having visions of vampires attacking young girls. Suddenly, she felt a flutter against her brain as if someone were trying to touch her mind.  
  
She threw up her mental walls and clouded her mind. She wasn't letting anyone into her mind. She sat up straighter in her seat.  
  
The touch became even more insistent as Sarah kept her walls strong. She glanced around, hoping to see if there was anyone suspicious around. All she saw was Jesse and Angie necking.  
  
'God, is it going to be another one like that? Them sucking face and necking all the time?' Sarah thought with a deep sigh.  
  
She sat back and, since the movie was a boring one, she fell asleep.  
  
Tom, seeing she was asleep, reached his mind out towards her again. Her shields were down now. That was good. He hadn't fed in two days. He gripped her mind and pushed her into a coma-like sleep.  
  
As Tom pulled her towards him she didn't even stir. He tilted her head back and gently kissed the side of her neck. His fangs slid down and he bit carefully.  
  
Her mind seemed to be struggling as he carefully explored her mind. Her mind was like a diamond. There were some flaws, but it was beautiful just same.  
  
This was a rare human. Beautiful inside as well as out. But there was magic in her, too. She had the ability to become a really powerful witch.  
  
Tom slowly pulled away from Sarah and he gently licked the bite marks, which slowly disappeared. He kept her close to his side, liking the feel of her next to him, as he called out to his brother.  
  
'Jesse, we need to talk soon. Alone. Let's get out of here.' He thought, carefully shaking Sarah awake.  
  
"Come on," he said gently, seeing her brow wrinkle at his call to wake up, "we're leaving. This movie is boring."  
  
So, halfway through the movie, they got up and left the theatre.  
  
"Am I going to your house for the night, Jesse?" Angie said to him, anticipating the night that might come.  
  
"Um, Angie. I don't think that's a good idea. They have to talk about something private." Sarah spoke quietly, because she was weak from the lost blood that Tom had taken.  
  
Jesse looked at Sarah sharply then at Tom questioningly.  
  
Angie looked downfallen, but listened to her sister. She got into Sarah's car. Sarah looked at Tom as if she wanted to say something, but didn't know how or what to say.  
  
"I'll call you." Tom said and Sarah nodded once to say she understood. She got in her car and drove away.  
  
@~@~@~  
  
"'I'll see you later?' What do you mean? What is going on, Tom? Why did you need to talk to me?" Jesse asked his brother, thoroughly disgruntled. He had been hoping to get laid tonight.  
  
"When you feed off Angie, does she seem to have any witch-like powers?" Tom asked his brother.  
  
"What? The only thing I feel when I drink from Angie is the thirst."  
  
"Have you ever felt anything else from any girl?" Tom asked as he drove into the driveway of the house they shared.  
  
"No, why?" Jesse asked, growing concerned.  
  
"At dinner tonight when I shook Sarah's hand, she talked inside my head. That wasn't the weird thing, though. At the movies I tried influencing her, yet I couldn't even get near her mind. She had blocked her mind from everything. I couldn't even get in." Tom told Jesse as they walked into the house. They sat down at the table.  
  
"So how did you feed if you couldn't touch her mind to put her into a trance?" Jesse asked in confusion.  
  
"She fell asleep, though one can hardly blame her. That movie was so boring -" Tom broke off at the look he received from his brother. "Anyways, she fell asleep and I kind of pushed her even deeper. But when I fed, her mind. . . It was beautiful. And there's a magic she hasn't discovered yet."  
  
"So what you're trying to say is that Sarah is a lost witch? But how can that be. If they were sisters, wouldn't Angie be a witch too? Because there is not one ounce of magic in Angie." Jesse said.  
  
Tom could tell that, although Jesse was willing to feed on and sleep with Angie, he didn't think too highly of her. Tom could see why. Although she was really pretty, it was nothing compared to Sarah's inner beauty.  
  
"So, what are you going to do?" Jesse asked.  
  
"Well, I'm going to try to find out who her parents are. But first, I'm going to call Sarah." Tom went on hesitantly. "Jesse, I think she may be my soulmate."  
  
Jesse stood up suddenly and moved toward Tom. "Be careful, Tom. Remember the rules. Until you're absolutely certain she's a lost witch, don't let her find out about us or the Night World." Jesse spoke warningly.  
  
Tom glared at his brother. "I think I know the rules a little better than you. Mom and Dad used to drill them into my head before they were killed."  
  
When Tom was finished speaking, he stalked out of the room. He went out onto the balcony, grabbing the phone as he went out.  
  
He gave Sarah a call, hoping she was home. Unfortunately, Angie answered the phone.  
  
@~@~@~  
  
"Hello?" Sarah heard Angie answer the phone. "Oh, hey. You want to talk to Sarah? She's in her -"  
  
"Hey, Tom," Sarah said after she had pressed the family extension button on her bedroom phone.  
  
"How did you know it was me?" Tom asked.  
  
Sarah seemed to think for a second. "Hm. Maybe I'm psychic. No, I knew you would call."  
  
"I called to ask you to go out with me tomorrow night. We'll go out to eat then for a stroll on the beach."  
  
"That sounds really nice. What time do you want me to meet you?" Sarah asked, surprisingly glad that he had actually called her back.  
  
"How about I pick you up? That way I can surprise you about dinner." Tom said.  
  
"Okay. Do you know where I live?"  
  
"I should. I've picked Angie up enough for Jesse." Tom said with a grin Sarah could hear all the way through the phone.  
  
"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow night." Sarah said, smiling as she realized that she had finally been introduced to someone that she could get along with.  
  
That night as she climbed into bed she wondered if she might have found the one person she could share the rest of her life with.  
  
@~@~@~  
  
The next day, Tom pulled up in front of the apartment complex that Sarah lived in. Sarah walked out, dressed in a pair of jeans and a blouse that hung on her as if they had been made just for her.   
  
"Hey," Sarah said as she climbed into the front seat next to Tom. "Where are we off to? I didn't know if we were going to someplace dressy, so I didn't bother dressing up."  
  
"What you're wearing is just fine. Oh and Sarah?" Tom remarked.  
  
"Yes?" Sarah asked.  
  
"It's a surprise." Tom said as he pulled a blindfold out of his pocket. He reached around to put it over her eyes and his fingers touched her face, giving them both the same pleasant jolt that they had felt the previous day.  
  
As they rode to wherever Tom was taking them, they talked about nonsense things. What kind of food the other liked, what kind of music did the other listen to, things like that.  
  
Tom pulled up to the side of the hill where they were going to have their picnic lunch. He helped her out of the car and they slowly made their way up the hill.  
  
When Tom removed the blindfold, Sarah gasped in surprise. They were in a field full of heather and daffodils and next to an old fence two horses were tethered.  
  
"Tom, how did you know I loved horseback riding?" Sarah exclaimed as she rushed up to gently stroke the horses' heads.  
  
"I didn't. I just thought about you and tried to imagine what you might enjoy in your spare time and I thought you'd make a wonderful equestrian. So you do like horseback riding?" Tom asked anxiously. He'd never felt this way with a girl before. He was usually cool and confident that he could get what he wanted with them, but he wanted to please Sarah like he had pleased no other.  
  
They enjoyed their picnic lunch, all the while telling each other jokes and having fun. After they were done eating, they released the horses and mounted, taking a quick jog through the field and then heading off into the woods when they saw a path.  
  
The canopy of the wood was bright green and the entire forest was shrouded as if it concealed a magic that no one else would understand except the two people walking through right then.  
  
Suddenly Tom stopped them abruptly.  
  
"What is it?" Sarah asked.  
  
"Quiet. I heard something." Tom whispered, still listening.  
  
'I didn't hear anything.' Sarah thought to herself. But all of a sudden, Sarah saw something out of the corner of her eye. It had been only a quick flash.  
  
Sarah gasped as a bullet went into her shoulder.  
  
"Sarah!" Tom exclaimed. He pulled Sarah onto his lap from her horse, whistled for the other horse to follow as he held onto Sarah, and guided his own horse out of the woods as quickly as possible.  
  
He gently brought Sarah off the horse behind him, realizing that she was already unconscious.  
  
He quickly got in his car and drove to the nearest doctor's office he could. Heather Harman, witch doctor.  
  
@~@~@~  
  
"What is the matter, Tom?" Heather asked him as he rushed into her office with a woman with long black hair.  
  
"Heather, I need your help. We were riding through the forest and suddenly she jerks backward as if she had been surprised or hurt. I think she's been shot. Can you help her?" Tom asks the doctor anxiously.  
  
"I don't know, Tom. Let me see." Heather directed Tom to lay the young woman on the examining table and carefully opened up her shirt to see what the problem was. "Uh, Tom. I think you were right. She has been shot. The only problem is, it was an iron bullet. Do you know why someone might have been trying to shoot her with an iron bullet?"  
  
"Well, I suspect that it might be to do with the fact she might have witch blood in her. You see, yesterday. . ." Tom started and told Heather the whole story of why he thought Sarah might have witch blood inside her. Except the part where she might be his soulmate.  
  
"You know, I think you're right. And if you are, we need to work fast. Remember, if she's a witch, she can die from the iron poisoning." Heather told him and started to operate.  
  
@~@~@~  
  
Sarah was slowly coming out of the deep sleep that had been keeping her asleep for the past couple of days. She felt a pulling in her shoulder that, when she moved it, it groaned in pain. Her eyes fluttered open to see Tom sitting in the chair next to her.  
  
"Hey, are you okay?" Tom asked her, worry shining in his eyes.  
  
Sarah still felt a little groggy and when she said, "I think so," she became light headed from the loss of blood.  
  
A tall, redheaded woman came in the room. "Ah, you're awake. I was wondering for a moment there if we were going to lose you."  
  
The woman had violet eyes that shone with something that Sarah thought she should know, but it eluded her.  
  
"I'm Heather Harman. When Tom brought you in to me, he thought you were going to die. I did, too, if you want to know the truth. But, hopefully soon, you will be as good as new." Heather smiled down at Sarah.  
  
'Harman!' Sarah thought with panic. 'Could she be. . . . A witch?'  
  
Sarah tried to sit up, fear making her ignore the pain in her shoulder.   
  
"Sarah, you must lie still! The bullet that hit you almost killed you!" Tom exclaimed, trying to hold her down while also trying to calm her.  
  
"What?" Sarah stopped struggling. "A bullet hit me? Was that what that shiny thing I saw was? A gun?"  
  
"I think so. Sarah I don't want to frighten you, but I think someone might be trying to kill you."  
  
Sarah laid still, her body as stiff as a board. She looked at Heather for confirmation of what Tom was telling her.  
  
"It's true. But. Sarah. Did you know you look a lot like one of my friends? So much like her, in fact, that you could be sisters? Do you ever have any premonitions or feelings that you could do some magic?"  
  
"Why? What are you trying to tell me?" Sarah asked frightened at what may come out of the doctor's mouth.  
  
"Well, Sarah, I think you may be. . . . .A witch."  
  
"A witch? But how can that be? Wouldn't the rest of my family have to be a witch, too? Or at least my sister and mother or father? As far as I can tell, none of them have ever had any kind of witch powers."  
  
"I know, Sarah. That's what makes me believe that you were adopted almost right after you were born."  
  
@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~@~  
  
Well, I hope you like it so far. I've already started on the second part, it's just that it's not done yet. I hope you've enjoyed this and if you would I would greatly like some info back on this. Either review it here or send me an e-mail and SailorSun@nightworld.zzn.com. Thanks. TTFN (Ta Ta For Now) 


	2. Part Two

Twilight Visions: Part 2  
Disclaimer: Almost all the characters in this story are mine. There is one mentioned and two that I brought in that do not belong to me. Hunter Redfern and Dani Abforth belong to L.J. Smith. L.J. Smith also owns the last name of Harman. Raven Mandrill is only mentioned in my story, but she is in Huntress, by L.J. Smith.  
  
Author's Note: This is an original Night World story. The story takes place shortly after Huntress, and before Black Dawn.  
*~*~*  
"You think I was adopted when I was born? My father or my mother at least would have told me, wouldn't they? I mean they have always loved me and treated me like I was their own, not someone they had adopted." Sarah said in horror.   
That might explain why she and her sister were so different, but she couldn't believe that her father at least would've told her.  
'I need to talk to my father,' Sarah thought to herself. She touched Tom on the hand and sent the message to him just before she plunged into sleep.  
@~@~@~  
"What was that all about?" Heather asked in suspicion. She had felt something flow between the other two people in the room.  
"There was one last thing I might have forgotten to mention." Tom said quietly. "Sarah's my soulmate. I don't think she understands what that is, but she knows that there is something between us. She sent me a mental thought before she was pulled into sleep that she had to talk to her father. She doesn't know that I am a vampire and had heard her thought anyway."  
"Well, it's true then. The Old Powers are awakening. We need to find out more about her. She needs to talk to her father and then we need to find her real parents. It is only right that she learn who they are."  
Tom sat there minutes after she had left, staring at Sarah's face. He decided that he would talk to her father first and find out as much as he could first, before Sarah talked to him.  
@~@~@~  
Tom pulled up in the parking lot to where Sarah lived with her sister and father. He walked up to their apartment and knocked. Angie opened the door, her eyes red and she was sniffling as if she had been crying.  
"Tom! Where's Sarah? Is she okay? What did you do to her?" Angie screamed the last at him.   
'She really loves Sarah, although she almost never shows it.' Tom thought to himself as Angie pulled him into the house.  
"You took off with her two days ago and you haven't brought her back yet. WHERE IS MY SISTER???" Angie led him to the living room where Sarah's father was sitting with his head in his hands, crying over the worry of his lost daughter.  
"Angie, shut up!" Tom shouted, his hands over his ears. He shouted this with his mind as well as with his mouth, to make sure that she did shut up. They were right in front of the living room door now.   
Tom quieted his tone. "Angie, I must talk to your father in private. Will you please go pack a light bag for Sarah for when I bring her home tomorrow?"  
"Sure," Angie mumbled and went off to get the back ready for Sarah.  
Tom walked into the living room and saw Sarah's father. 'At least I know that she didn't lack for love while she was growing up. Even though her sister is a pain in the ass.'  
"Mr. Whitney, I'm sorry I didn't come two days ago to talk to you. When I took Sarah out the other day we went on a picnic. Then we went for a ride in the woods. Do you know of anyone who might want to kill Sarah? Because someone did try. They shot her with an iron bullet."  
"Iron!" Mr. Whitney cried, "Is she okay? Please tell me she didn't die!"  
"No, she didn't die. She's alive. I took her to very good doctor and right now your daughter is being as stubborn as she always is. But you do know that the iron bullet could have hurt her?"  
"Yes." Mr. Whitney said, greatly saddened that someone had found out about his daughter being adopted. "I adopted her to help a friend of mine. You see, my friend was only twenty, engaged, and she had an affair with a really bad man. She ended up pregnant and had Sarah. She moved away from her fiancé and had the baby here in New York. She gave Sarah up for adoption and I adopted her. Sarah was never to have found out. No one was."  
"Well, you see Mr. Whitney," Tom said, his eyes turning silver and his canines elongating, "I am a lamia. The other day when I took Angie up on the blind date and met Angie, at the movies I drank some of her blood. That's how I found out that she was a witch. Sarah needs to talk to you. I will bring her home tomorrow and you had better tell her everything. If you don't know who her father is, I suggest you tell her who her mother is so we can find out where she lives now. Or else."  
Mr. Whitney blanched. He thought about the threat that Hunter had given him. '"If you reveal to anyone that I am that girl's father, I'll tell the Night World elders that you know about them. Think about what might happen if they find out that vermin knows who and what they are."'  
"I don't know Sarah's father's name, but I know her mother's name. Her name is Abigail. Abigail Abforth." Mr. Whitney let out a long breath. It felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He had been waiting for sixteen years to say her name to someone. Especially to someone who would tell Sarah.  
"Thank you. I'll make sure to tell Sarah her name. We'll see you tomorrow, around one o'clock. Be here to talk to her. She wants to talk to you about this." Tom told the older man in a firm voice. Tom knew that Mr. Whitney was withholding the father's name from him, but he couldn't tell what the name could be. Someone was blocking the man's brain from any outside interference.  
Angie met Tom outside the room.  
"Here. This is one of her favorite outfits. Her favorite nightgown. And her favorite reading book." She handed him a bag and a book.  
Tom took the bag and book, murmured his thanks and left the apartment.  
@~@~@~  
Tom looked down at the book as he drove out of the parking lot. "Night World! What the hell!" Tom nearly went off the road. He pulled off to the side. He quickly turned the book over and read the back.   
'Prince of Darkness  
The pain was something Poppy couldn't ignore. The diagnosis was death. There was no hope - until James appeared in the darkened hospital room. James, her best friend and secret love, the handsomest boy in El Camino High. But this was a James she didn't know - menacing yet irresistible as he offered Poppy the gift of eternal life. Only he could open the door to the Night World and spirit her into it's lonely secret universe. One dizzying kiss and she can see into his soul. She finds that he has always loved her. They're soulmates - but can she follow him into death. . . and beyond. It's a desperate choice and Poppy's time is running out. . . .'  
Tom closed his eyes. He knew these people. It was Poppy and James Rasmussen. He knew their story. Knew what they stood for. Hell, now he even stood for the same thing.   
'Sarah,' his mind said to him over and over again. Sarah knew everything about the Night World. She probably knew more about the Circle Daybreakers than even he did. And he was one of them. Not that his brother knew. He had to keep up the pretense of being part of the Night World and hating the people belonging to Circle Daybreak. But, actually, he had made a lot of friends in that group. Thank the Goddess that Raven had been able to talk him into joining.  
Tom started the car back up and continued driving to Heather's small hospital.  
@~@~@~  
"Where is he?" Sarah asked Heather as she walked into the room, carrying Sarah's breakfast to her on a tray.  
"He'll be back in a little while. He had to go do some things. Now, sit back and eat or I'll strap you down." Heather spoke to Sarah as if she were a sister instead of a patient.  
"But it isn't right that you should be acting as a nursemaid! My shoulder is fine now. I could at least get up and help you do things. I have to go home anyway. Dad and Angie must be worried sick about me." Sarah said. She still couldn't admit to herself that Heather and Tom might be right about her being adopted.  
"You sit your butt down right now. I'm not having my beautiful stitching coming apart now. Especially when you've already pulled the stitches out once trying to get out of that bed." Heather told Sarah as she tried to get up again for the second time that day. They both heard the jingle of the front door as someone entered the waiting room.  
Tom walked into the room. He was carrying a bag of clothes and a book in his hands.   
"Has she given you any trouble, Heather?" He asked her with a gentle smile toward Sarah. "If she has, I won't give her what her sister gave me to give to her." He said as he held up the bag and book.  
"You went to see them? How are they? Are they all right?" Sarah asked, worried about the welfare of her family.  
"Yes, Sarah. They're fine. They were really concerned about you, although I didn't tell your sister what had happened. She told me these were your favorite things."  
Tom handed Sarah the bag with her clothes and when she saw the book, she was astonished that Angie had remembered that it was her favorite. "She gave you Secret Vampire to give to me! Thank God. Now I won't be totally bored out of mind while you guys are making me sit here all day with nothing to do."  
Sarah tore into the book and Tom motioned Heather out the door.  
"Heather, did you get a look at the book that Sarah was reading?" Tom asked her.  
"No, what was it about." Heather asked, puzzled.  
"I'll tell you in three words. The Night World." Tom said gravely as he uttered the words that felt like poison on the tip of his tongue.  
"WHAT!!! How did she get a book on that? I thought there were no records about the Night World. I thought the elders made sure of that when they promised death to anyone who let out the secret of the Night World." Heather cried.  
"Yeah, well, looks like the secret got out. We should tell Thierry about this. There is no way that if the Night World leaders find out first what hell there will be to pay. It's better that the leader of Circle Daybreak find out first." Tom said quietly, hoping Sarah hadn't heard Heather shout.  
"You're right. I'll let Thierry know. Well, what did you find out about her mother?" Heather asked, now quiet.  
"Well, we were right. She was adopted and she is a witch, but her father and sister love her as if they were related. I don't think Angie knows anything, but it's possible she could. The only thing is, Sarah's father is hiding who Sarah's father is. I'm not sure who it is, but I think someone threatened him into silence. But, anyway, that book is the story of Poppy and James. You don't think the author would have written their story without their permission, do you?" Tom asked, suddenly very worried.  
"No, I don't think so. Maybe you should call them while I call Thierry." Heather said, moving toward the phone in her office as she gestured to the phone behind the secretary's desk for Tom to use. "I'm not sure if anyone's home at the mansion, but I'll see if Nilsson is there. It's possible.  
Tom walked up to the phone and quickly dialed James' cell phone.  
"Hello," Tom heard James answer.  
"Hey, James. It's Tom Mandrill. I was wondering. Have you ever told anyone your story? I just found a book titled Secret Vampire and it was about you and Poppy. So, have you? Other than Poppy, I mean." Tom answered, wanting to get this over and done with so he could go in the other room and sit and talk to Sarah.  
"Yeah, Tom. I have. The lady's name is Lisa Jane Smith, but she writes under L.J. Smith. Poppy and I went to talk to her back in '97. Then we called the other Circle Daybreak people, we even told Thierry about her, and told them that she was going to write a series of books on the Night World and that we thought they should go tell her their stories. Of course, I don't know who's book she's on right now. I think that Thierry had even the Wild Powers and their soulmates write down their stories and had someone bring L.J. Smith their stories."  
"Thanks, James. Hey, I'm going to be going to Thierry's mansion in about a week. Would you and Poppy meet me in Vegas? I want to introduce you to someone." Tom spoke into the receiver, looking at the room where Sarah had better be laying down, relaxing, and reading her book.  
"Sure. I'll even call the others. Maybe we could all get together and have a party. Who knows?" James said, a tiny touch of excitement in his voice at the thought of seeing everyone again. It had been almost three years since he had seen them.  
"Okay. See you soon." Tom said and hung up the phone.  
Tom walked back to the room that Sarah was in and watched her while she lay in the bed reading. "Sarah," he said quietly, hoping she wasn't too far zoned into the book that she didn't hear him. Angie had told him how her sister could start a book and if she was really into that book, you couldn't pull her out of it if the world was going to be blown up. When she looked up at him, he smiled.  
"Yeah, Tom," Sarah said, smiling at the part she was at in the book. She was at the part right after Poppy had fainted and James had caught the milk carton as it had tumbled from Poppy's hands without spilling a drop.  
"I was wondering something. Next week, do you want to go on a trip with me? It would get you away from your family and college. Please?" Tom asked her, giving her the puppy dog treatment that he hoped would make her cave-in and go with him.  
Sarah smiled. 'So, Angie forgot to tell him that I don't give in to the puppy dog face, huh.' "Sure, I'll go with you. But where are we going?"  
"Oh, just across the country. To Las Vegas. You are old enough to gamble, right?" Tom asked, grinning wickedly.  
"Tom, it's not right to ask a lady about her age, but, yes, I am old enough to gamble. I can't wait to see that big Sphinx casino that Hannah talked about in her story." Sarah said and returned to her book.  
'She must be talking about Hannah, Thierry's wife. I can't wait until I can surprise her even more and let her meet the real Hannah.' Tom thought to himself, a gentle smile stealing across his face as he watched Sarah.  
"Tom, can I talk to you for a minute?" Heather said from out in the hall. As soon as he got into the hall, Heather pulled him into her office. "Thierry's on the phone, he wants to talk to you."  
Tom picked up the phone and said, "Hi, Thierry. How can I help you?"  
"Hey, Tom. Heather Harman just told me about those books. I know it was dangerous for the Circle Daybreakers to give their stories to that author, but I gave the okay. Humans have to learn about the Night World if they are going to help protect themselves when the millennium starts." Thierry said.  
"Okay, Thierry. What would you say if I said I found my soulmate and I wanted to throw a party next week with the inner Circle Daybreak people?" Tom asked hesitantly.  
"I'd say congratulations and I wouldn't mind. I can't wait to meet her. Oh, and Tom." Thierry said into the phone.  
"Yeah?"  
"Make sure she isn't a vampire when she gets here." Thierry said before hanging up the phone.  
Tom stared at the phone in his hands and then threw back his head and laughed.  
@~@~@~  
The next morning, Sarah was all healed. There wasn't a scar even, which astounded Heather and Tom both. If she was part witch shouldn't there be a scar, especially when the bullet had been iron.  
Sarah was taking it all in stride, however.  
"I've always been that way," Sarah stated simply. "Whenever I'm seriously injured or hurt in anyway, I always seem to heal rather quickly."  
Tom brought Sarah home that day and her sister and father were there, anxiously awaiting her return.  
"Hey, guys," Sarah said. She was surprised to see her father home, because he usually worked everyday.  
"Hey, sweetheart," Mr. Whitney said, walking over to her and hauling her into his arms for a huge hug. Then he looked at Tom and said, "honey, can I talk to you for a second. Please."  
Sarah nodded, unsurprised that her father wanted to talk to her. "Sure, Daddy." Sarah said and followed him into his office. "What's up?"  
"Well, Sarah. Tom has probably told you, but I wanted to say it out loud for the first time in almost nineteen years. Sweetheart, I should have told you sooner, but. . . .Your mother is a witch. She came to my wife and me, we being good friends of hers, and she asked us to adopt you. You see, she was engaged to be married to another witch, but she'd had an affair with someone else and became pregnant with you. She knew that we had wanted a child for a long time and she asked us if she could live with that and us when her child was born, if we would adopt her. So we did and, even though we are not blood related, I feel in my heart that you are my daughter."  
"Oh, Daddy!" Sarah cried, tears running freely down her cheeks. She ran to her father, who was standing next to the big windows, and hugged him tight around the middle. "I will always be your daughter. No matter if I find my true mother and father. Anyone can be a father, but it takes a special person to be a Dad."  
The two of them stood there hugging each other for a long time after that. Just standing there embracing each other as if when they let each other go, they would lose each other forever. Finally Sarah pulled away.  
"Daddy, Tom wants me to go on a trip with him for a couple days. He wants to take me to Las Vegas, probably to gamble. I already told him no, but if you don't want me to go I'll tell him I can't. So, may I go?" Sarah asked the man that had been her dad for almost nineteen years, hope shining in her face.  
Mr. Whitney turned pale. That was where he had last heard that Abigail lived and he had some reservations about Sarah going anywhere with a vampire. Then he straightened out his face and, knowing how much it meant to Sarah, he nodded his head in agreement. "Sure honey. You can go. Do you need any money?"  
"I don't know. Let me ask Tom when we get back to the living room." Sarah's face was alight with happiness. She was really happy that her father was allowing her to go with Tom.  
The two of them walked back to the living room to see Tom and Abigail in an argument.  
" - but I want to go!" Angie cried.  
"I said no! I am not taking a spoiled brat that whines when she doesn't get her way. And anyway if I took you to Las Vegas, I'd probably get thrown into jail for allowing a minor to gamble." Tom said heatedly, but calmly.  
"It's not fair." Angie said, then saw her father and sister in the doorway. "Dad, tell Tom to let me -"  
"No, Angie. You are not going to Las Vegas with them. And, by the way, go up to your room and get that money that you borrowed from your sister a month and a half ago. You should have paid her back then. And, Angie, I mean all of it."  
"But -" Angie looked to her sister for support.  
"No, Daddy. I'm sure I won't need that much money. Besides, she couldn't pay me back all the money she's borrowed from me over the years. She wouldn't have enough." Sarah said teasingly to her sister, then she straightened out her face. "But, Angie, I'm not going to change Dad's or Tom's mind about letting you go with us to Las Vegas. It is not a place for fifteen year olds. I'll tell you what. When you turn eighteen, I'll take you to Las Vegas. Just you and me, no one else."  
"You mean it?" Angie asked her sister hopefully. At Sarah's nod, Angie ran into her arms and gave her a bear hug.   
Sarah nodded, then looked at Tom. "My dad wants to know if I'll need any money for the trip."  
"No, Sarah. You don't have to spend any money if you don't want to. I'll pay for the whole trip." Tom said to Sarah.  
Angie noticed a softness in his eyes that had never been there before. Mr. Whitney also noted the softness in his eyes that hadn't been there the day before when Tom had come to threaten him.  
"Oh, that's cool. Dad, thanks for offering though." Sarah looked at her dad and smiled.  
@~@~@~  
Tom and Sarah left on their road trip the following day. The trip seemed to go fine all the way. The two talked and laughed and enjoyed themselves. Until the day before they would arrive in Las Vegas.  
@~@~@~  
Sarah woke up in the middle of the night. She didn't know why, but she had a feeling that she was needed somewhere. So she got out of bed and noticed that Tom wasn't on the twin bed that was sitting next to hers, sleeping like he should have been.  
Sarah quickly got dressed and slipped out into the night beyond the door. She stood listening for a moment then heard a rustle in the woods just behind the hotel. She carefully and quietly followed the rustling sound.  
There, in the woods, was Tom. He held in his hands a deer and he was leaning over it, his head bent toward it.  
"Tom," Sarah gasped and Tom's head instantly came up.  
On his lips was a smear of red liquid. Sarah realized that Tom had been drinking the blood of the deer. She turned and started to run, but didn't get very far for, suddenly, Tom had taken a hold of her wrist and wouldn't let go.  



End file.
